The Acid Lake Pictured below is a
kilometre long and 15 metres deep. It is one of six lakes on
this mine lease in Collinsville Queensland. (as of June 2004)

Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is a problem
that is being faced world wide in coal producing areas. Councils
interest in participating in an experiment in Collinsville may
be a noble environmental step forward or a potential liability
hazard. We try to find the answers.

A
report by R. Norson, June 2004

A proposal from the Australian Coal Association
Research Program (ACARP) was approved with little discussion
at the council meeting in Collinsville on 16 June. The brief
report outlined a plan to invite participation from council to
supply sewerage waste, at council expense, to an acid lake on
the mine site for the stated purpose of remediation
or rehabilitation of the lake waters.

In these days of water shortages and concerns
over waste disposal, such a proposal sounds good, and was no
surprise to see approved.

In examining the proposal after the council
meeting I came to some technical data that was beyond my understanding.
To clarify the issue I directed fax copies of the proposal as
presented to council to George Meyer. Mr. Meyer was an operator
of a precious metal refinery and has extensive knowledge in chemistry
and metallurgy. Upon reading the proposal, Mr Meyer contacted
me to discuss the technical information. Mr. Meyer's first thoughts
were why is your council getting involved in this?
He stated his opinion that the council had little to gain in
the proposal and could be subject to liabilities in the end.
To the best of my knowledge the mine is responsible entirely
for the remediation of any damage to the environment. It appears
to me that the council is paying for the privilege of assisting
the mining company to clean up its problems and may inherit legal
liability as the reward. Mr. Meyer was also a mine operator
for several years and has a good understanding of general mining
laws and regulations, granting that recent changes to the structure
of the EPA and the Department of Natural resources and mining
have changed in the last 4 years. Your council is about
to import onto a mining lease, toxic material that may or may
not be of benefit to anybody. It is clearly stated that the project
is an experiment. If it works you might be alright but not necessarily.
If the water is successfully treated and removed, the lake bottom
may be a clean up problem I asked if he was certain of
the liability. No, he replied, I'm not because
of some legislative changes, however, under the act as it stood
a few years ago I would call a liability issue probable and I
would be surprised if the recent change in enforcement from mines
to EPA would make that much difference. The point is that I do
not see the benefit to the rate payers so why would you take
any risk at all.

In a phone conversation with Joel May,
the environmental adviser with Xtrata, I asked what benefit the
research would have for Bowen Shire. He stated that the benefit
would be in the rehabilitation of the water and in finding an
alternative in the disposal of the waste. I pointed out that
I thought the water was already the sole responsibility of the
mine and that the mine is required to do that anyway. He admitted
that was true and reiterated the benefit of the disposal of the
waste.

Reclaiming the water has to have benefit
but for whom?

In the proposal presented to council it
states that the end uses for the water might include passive
and active recreation, fishing, aquaculture, irrigated horticulture,
conservation and garden reticulation Further more
the water may be useful within the mine for dust control or for
use in the Power Station cooling.

When asked about the possibility of aquaculture
in particular, Mr. Meyer said that he thought the chance for
that was nil. If dangerous metals such as lead and
cadmium, that could be present, could be precipitated out of
the solution, the oxygen levels would still be a problem, he
said. I asked Joel May about this and he admitted that the proposed
use of aquaculture in particular may be optimistic. When the
use of dust control was mentioned he agreed that was a very realistic
use. Mr. May went on to describe the benefit of not having to
take water from the river to use for this purpose if the acid
lakes could be lowered in acidity enough to use in stead.

It does appear that the most likely use
for the water would be within the mine and that it should reduce
demand on other sources.

What exactly is wrong
with the water?

The following is a brief report based on the examination of several
web sites including the U.S. EPA and
Dr. Mark Lunds.
Often called Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) the waste water from coal
mining operations is a world wide environmental problem. AMD
is characterised as being acidic (low ph, 4 or under) and possibly
with measurable amounts of metals such as cadmium, lead, copper,
iron or others.. Areas with deposits of pyrite and sulphur, normal
for a coal field such as Collinsville, tend to produce low ph
(acid) and the pyrite releases metals as it weathers. The overburden
and surrounding heaps might continue to produce traces of the
materials from the leaching of water on its way into the lakes.
In Collinsville this has been mitigated by the cutting of a ditch
around the area of the lake that directs rainwater away from
it. The amount of the metals in the water determines the risk.
The investigation I have made suggests that Cadmium, for example,
is dangerous. (see adjoining report) Mr. May said he considers
the quantity of cadmium in the water at the Collinsville AMD
lake to be very low, well within safe levels..

It is Black Water..light
is absorbed within millimetres

The scale of the project seems large. Though
Mr. May suggested they may reduce the size of the lake for the
experiment. The depth is 15 metres. He reports that the waste
is intended to be 1 metre thickon the bottom when completed.
A yellowish residue traces the shore of the lake. It appears
that the level of the lake is stable. The lake has no liner or
means of sealing. Joel May informed me that the lake is on sandstone
which he feels confident will retain the liquid. I consulted
with George Meyer on the sandstone issue and he expressed concern
for the material. He said that clay would have been far better.
Sandstone by nature is porous and may be heavily fractured
which could allow a further capillary effect that could let the
water leach out. I can not know that because I don't have all
the information but I would be concerned. In worst case, the
stable level of the lake may be because it has reached the level
of the water table.

Studies available from other countries
reveal the problem to be wide spread. Methods that have been
tried include the dumping of hundreds of tonnes of lime, which
was supposed to increase ph but failed in the New Zealand study
I reviewed. That same study from the University of Otago's Department
of Geology (see web site): www.otago.ac.nz/geology/metals/wangola/amdandph.html)
also studied the remedial effect of wetlands adjacent to the
lake. Their study found that time was the greatest factor. The
longer the surrounding terrain was left undisturbed the better
the ph. In time it seems that an AMD lake will probably heal
but the length of time is long, decades rather than years.

Dr. Mark Lund, the project leader of the
proposed experiment, states that there are other sources of organic
matter besides sewerage that may be useful. They include mulch,
sawdust, hay, wine lees, manures and even waste from aquaculture.
He advises that consideration has to be given to end use and
health and safety issues associated with some of the materials.
(sourced from Controlling acidity in
Flooded Collie coal voids- is it necessary and how can it be
achieved?) The aim is to encourage biological processes found
in normal lakes that will naturally adjust the ph. The nutrients
from the organic matter may support kinds of bacteria that can
have a positive effect.

I asked what method was normally used to
deal with the AMD water. Mr. May said that they would transfer
the water into an evaporation pool and the sludge would be put
into a land fill.

How can Bowen Shire be indemnified against
liability for contributing to this experiment? I asked Mr. May
that question. I would say that would be included in the
third party agreement .that we could not go back on them.
Is that an existing or proposed document? Its an existing
form that you apply through the environmental Protection Agency
I guess, Gary Martin (Bowen Shire manager for water and sewage)
is probably better off talking to. Mr May then mentioned
the Collinsville golf Course receiving effluent as an example
of the liability issue. It is true that the golf course does
have a pond used for irrigation that receives liquid treated
effluent. It is a small scale project and the water is treated
with chlorine and electronic methods. I had a chat with a care
taker there. Another difference is that the golf course doesn't
have the metals or acid.

The biggest difference though, may be the
legislation that applies. Mr May said that as far as the environmental
legislation goes, the golf course and the mine are now all
under one umbrella. While it does seem to be the case that
the EPA now has jurisdiction over the lot, the legislation may
still differenciate between a mine and a golf course. I contacted
a senior official with the Department of Natural Resources and
Mines, Mr Roger Billingham. His title is Chief Mines Inspector.
Since the change in legislation that handed the environmental
issues to the EPA, his primary responsibility is now safety and
health. When I asked about the council's involvement in the mine
site he stated that the council  has no jurisdiction
or authority on a mine lease. When I asked if council may
have a liability issue with the experiment, he stated absolutely!
.

What did the EPA say about the liability
issue?. I contacted Phil Jeston of the Townsville office of the
EPA. The Collinsville operation is his area. He would not answer
any question. As I was media he said he was required to hand
me over to a media adviser. I was referred to the
Brisbane office of Mr. Chris Dahl. He resonded sometime later;....Any action that successfully improves the quality
of the water impacted by the mine would be welcomed by the EPA.
While we are grateful for the response, it does not address
the issue of liability.

I called Joel May for a response on this issue of the porosity
of the sandstone that the AMD Lake is in. He confirms that the
nature of the lake bed is porous. The mine has sunk three bores
within about 100 metres of the Lake for testing purposes. Lab
reports are pending from samples taken. The Lake in its present
location is approx. 5-6 years old